The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners was a situation comedy, which is well-remembered and influential as a highlight of television's golden age. Yet the show was in fact seen for most of its life as a segment within other programs, lasting only one season as an independent series. Created by Jackie Gleason, who starred as bus driver and put-upon husband, Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners debuted in 1951 as a sketch within the variety show Cavalcade of Stars, a series then hosted by Gleason and with Art Carney and Pert Kelton as regulars. Carney played Ralph's best friend, sewer worker Ed Norton, which would become Carney's definitive role, and Kelton was initially cast as Ralph's wife Alice. When the show moved to CBS as The Jackie Gleason Show in 1952, Audrey Meadows took over as Alice, and Joyce Randolph was added as Ed's wife Trixie. The Honeymooners sketches remained a popular element, and in 1955, for a single season, the series aired as a half-hour sitcom, before reverting the following year back to the variety format. When Carney left as a regular in 1957, The Honeymooners sketches became far more sporadic until 1966, with new color segments shot, often as full hour musical comedies; Gleason and Carney reprised their roles, while Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean took over as the wives. Pert Kelton, the original Alice, guest starred as Ralph's mother-in-law. In 2005, a feature-length remake was released to movie theaters, starring an African-American cast. References *In episode 101 of The Jim Henson Hour, Digit, receiving TV feeds from all over, gets a feed of The Honeymooners and shouts "One of these days Alice. POW! Right in the kisser!' *The Grand High Triangle Lover and his assistant, Norman, who appeared on Sesame Street beginning in Season 22, have voices and personalities based on Ralph Kramden and Norton. *Episode 3756 of Sesame Street features an extended spoof of the series based on the home life of the Grand High Triangle Lover. His apartment is modeled directly after that of the show, completely with a black-and-white color scheme. Mrs. Grand High Triangle Lover is also seen, resembling Alice Kramden. After dinner, the Grand High Triangle Lover exclaims, "Baby, it was the greatest!," a spin on one of Ralph Kramden's signature phrases. Later, before leading his party guests in "The Alphabet Song", the Grand High Triangle Lover plays a short riff of "Old Folks at Home," a reference to the famous episode, "The $99,000 Answer." * A Sesame Street sketch with Danny DeVito and Oscar the Grouch ends with the two of them yelling insults at a Grouch bus which did not stop at the bus stop. One of DeVito's insults is "Who taught you how to drive a bus, Ralph Kramden?" Jackie Gleason played the character whose occupation was a bus driver, but who was never seen driving a bus on the show. *In an animated Sesame Street insert, Flossee and Splatt, the two characters try to ride a see-saw. Splatt, the smaller of the two, says to Flossee that when she lands on the opposite end, "It's gonna be BANG-ZOOM-to the Moon, Splatt!" *''Muppets Tonight'' spoofed the show in episode 104 as "The Lunarmooners". The sketch purported to be a "pilot" that the Muppets had made with John Goodman in 1969, shortly after the moon landing. The sketch features Goodman as Alf, Miss Piggy as his wife Alison, and Fozzie Bear as his friend Newton. In the sketch, Alf reverses one of Ralph Kramden's famous catchphrases: "One of these days, Alison... Bang! Zoom! Right to the Earth!" *While preparing for Slimey's trip to the moon in Episode 3696, Oscar the Grouch is reading several magazines about space travel, one of which is entitled Bang! Zoom! To The Moon! *In Episode 3758 of Sesame Street, Alice Snuffleupagus asks where Slimey has gone. Big-brother Snuffy tells her "To the moon, Alice, to the moon!" *In "Tutter Gathers Some Moss", Tutter builds a catapult and tells Moss it will send him to the moon. He reiterates -- "To the moon, Moss!" *Ralph Crammedon gets his name, profession and catchphrase from Ralph Kramen. Connections *Art Carney has appeared alongside the Muppets in several productions, including The Great Santa Claus Switch, The Perry Como Winter Show and The Muppets Take Manhattan. *Cedric the Entertainer played Ralph Kramden in the 2005 film adaptation *John Leguizamo played Dodge in the 2005 film adaptation __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:TV References